Lifetime dumps a ton of movies off this weekend as well, it’s like they’ve been saving them up and are now on a spending spree! First up is the second sequel to the movie Center Stage, a film you may not even know had a first sequel. Well, it did, and sequel 2 continues the story of ballet, but not in the Black Swan way. Center Stage: On Pointe features the return of Nicole Muñoz as Bella Parker, the sister of the last main character, Kate, and the trials and tribulations of being a top dancer in ballet. It looks like Rachele Brooke Smith is back as Kate, though I don’t know how big her part will be as she isn’t even mentioned in the Lifetime blurbs. There is actually several returning actors including Peter Gallagher and Kenny Wormald, and the film features Dance Moms star Chloe Lukasiak.
A valued patron tasks Johnathan Reeves with taking the American Ballet Academy (ABA) in a new direction that combines contemporary styles with ballet. Reeves enlists his top dancers/choreographers Tommy, Cooper and Charlie to recruit modern and ballet dancers to compete at a Dance Camp training intensive with the winners gaining entry into the ABA. Tommy’s lead recruit is Bella Parker, the younger sister to renowned ballerina Kate. Bella, a natural modern dancer but whom struggles with ballet, is at first reluctant but decides to enter the program to try and prove herself and get out from under her sister’s shadow. Alongside other top dancers, including Gwen, will Bella have what it takes to make the cut?
Center Stage: On Pointe is directed by Director X. Yes, that’s his name, Director X., the period is part of his name. This is his first feature film, though he has directed a lot of music videos. No one seems to list who wrote the film, so it will be a mystery for now! It stars Nicole Muñoz, Peter Gallagher, Sascha Radetsky, Kenny Wormald, Ethan Stiefel, Barton Cowperthwaite, Maude Green, and Chloe Lukasiak.
Center Stage: On Pointe premieres Saturday, June 25th on Lifetime!
Open your faceholes to prepare for the arrival of a whole batch of direct to video sequels that will fill all your senses with wonderment on how all this DTV stuff is getting greenlighted in 2014, long after video store closures have eliminated one of the paths for these films to get profitable. But greenlit they are, so good for them, and let’s just go over the latest group of films.
Not only is there a fifth Sniper film coming out, but also a second Jarhead film, a second Company of Heroes movie, and even a Tremors reboot! All from the same director, Don Michael Paul! You might remember Don Michael Paul as the director of Who’s Your Caddy? or Taken: The Search for Sophie Parker, and now he’s doing a whole host of films!
Battle-scarred and disillusioned by the war, Corporal Chris Merriman is put in charge of a unit whose next mission is to resupply a remote outpost on the edge of Taliban-controlled territory. While driving through the hostile Helmand province, a Navy SEAL flags down their convoy and enlists the unit on an operation of international importance: they must help an Afghan woman famous for her defiance of the Taliban escape the country. Without tanks or air support, Merriman and his team will need all the courage and firepower they can muster to fight their way across the war-torn country and shepherd the woman to safety.
Sniper: Legacy has Tom Berenger and Dennis Haysbert both appear. Berenger starred in the first three Sniper films, and in the fourth, his character’s son was the lead. They team up for this installment. It comes out September 30th
A rogue gunman is assassinating high-ranking military officers one by one. When Gunnery Sgt. Brandon Beckett is informed his father, legendary shooter Thomas Beckett has been killed, Brandon springs into action to take out the perpetrator. But when his father rescues him from an ambush, Brandon realizes he’s a pawn being played by his superiors to draw out the killer. It’s up to the two men, bound by blood, to bring an end to the carnage.
Company Of Heroes: The Fourth Reich is currently shooting in Bulgaria, it’s the sequel to 2013’s Company of Heroes, based on the video game series. In that they have the same title, and that’s about it. No solid information on this one yet, only that it is filming.
Finally, Don Michael Paul is headed to South Africa to begin filming another Tremors film, which he calls a reboot. Whether it is a reboot or just a sequel with a whole new cast, no one knows.
UPDATE: Moviehole has learned that the Tremors film is in fact another sequel, with Michael Gross returning as Burt Gummer! This is great news, as Gummer is awesome and is the heart of the Tremors franchise!
Hey all you “Company Of Heroes” fans, I’m back in Sofia, Bulgaria getting ready to do another in the series. This one’s called “The Fourth Reich” and it promises to have more of the same only better. For all you out there that hated on the first movie, I’m sorry. But I took all your comments to heart and will try to improve on some of the things you were unhappy with. I am always fighting budgetary issues, but I promise to try and give you what you like and minemalize what you did not. Casting is underway, no news on that front, but I hope to deliver some great actors and maybe even a cool name or two. It’s good to be back and working!!! Keep an eye out for “Jarhead 2: Field Of Fire.” Universal is sending it your way on August 19, 2014, and then comes “Sniper: Legacy” from Sony on September 30. My friend Tom Berenger and Dennis Haysbert showed up for Sniper and made the movie a great experience. Great actors and good people, too. After I finish up “Company Of Heroes: The Fourth Reich” I will be headed to Johannesburg, South Africa to reboot the “Tremors” franchise for Universal. Big year ahead and I’m excited to keep it going with the support of all you genre movie lovers out there. Keep sending me your thoughts. They are always welcome, even the critical ones. I’ll shout out to you all soon. Stay tuned!!!!!
WWE Studios is still making movies and still putting noted wrestler Larry the Cable Guy into sequels to movies that he wasn’t in to begin with. The latest is Jingle All the Way 2, a sequel to the 1996 film that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad as competing fathers trying to get the hottest toy of the year. Larry the Cable Guy will be teamed with Santino Marella, who actually is a wrestler. Alex Zamm of Tooth Fairy 2 fame will direct.
Jingle All the Way has seen a resurgence of popularity recently, buffered on by True 90s Kids remember the 90s, and fans of Phil Harman. Let us not forget the legion of fans of Jake Lloyd, who remind us every day that Jingle All the Way is far from the worst thing Jake Lloyd starred in.
WWE Studios also announced The Marine 4, another DTV sequel where The Mix will return after starring in The Marine 3 (John Cena starred in the original and Ted DiBiase starred in The Marine 2) WWE Diva Summer Rae will also star.
This year will see WWE release the animated Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery, the Leprechaun: Origins reboot of the Leprechaun franchise (starring Hornswoggle), and See No Evil 2. The original See No Evil starred Kane and was one of WWE’s first films. The sequel is directed by the Soska sisters, Jen and Sylvia Soska, and will again see Kane go on a killing spree. No word on if Kane will kill Larry the Cable Guy, but maybe they are saving that for See No Evil 3.
Welcome to the world of sequels we never needed, The War of the Roses – The Children! It’s true, there was a book followup to the source novel for the 1989 Danny DeVito directed film The War of the Roses, and it was instantly snatched up by movie studios eager to capitalize on the public’s lust for more The War of the Roses!
If you remember, Sean Astin played the role of the son, while someone named Heather Fairfield played the daughter. It is doubtful either will reprise their roles, but you never know.
The War of the Roses – The Children deals with the children of the divorce, and how it affects their lives. If there is one thing that has become common, it is children of divorces. This isn’t even a unique spin on the genre, only one real divorce, and the majority of the children’s trauma is probably from their parents’ deaths, not their divorce. Many people reading this probably come from “broken” homes, it is not unusual. Heck, I had double divorces growing up, and I’m not even close to some of the messed up family life others have.
At least be creative, how about children of a blended marriage that also ended in divorce, with step- and half-siblings all over the mix. Or bring back Sean Astin for Hobbit Divorce Stories!
Yada yada book synopsis copied from Amazon to pump up post length:
“More than 20 years after the publication of The War of the Roses, the divorce story that inspired the famous movie starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, author Warren Adler returns with a biting sequel. Just when it seems the Rose children are headed for self-destruction, hilarious and unpredictable events intervene in Adler’s wicked follow-up.” Pages Magazine
Warren Adler’s The War of The Roses leaped onto the public consciousness and has since remained an essential thread in a wider tapestry of divorce iconography. Now, Adler presents us with the chandelier-shattering legacy of Barbara and Jonathan Rose relived in their children Josh and Evie in a hilarious sequel to the original iconic tale about the perils of marriage, divorce and the destructive power of materialism.
Unlike the legendary Roses, Josh’s marriage to Victoria should have all the qualities of an everlasting union. But when an innocent caper involving missing Milky Ways catapults out of control at their son’s elite private school, the pair find themselves entering into a shattering warfare of a different kind. Armed with the emotional mayhem inherited from their parents, as well as compounded pressures involving a depraved headmaster, clandestine affairs and Victoria’s male-hating mother, The War of the Roses – the Children presents a gripping story of the lengths to which parents will go to protect their children.
Little more than a child herself, Josh’s ever sympathetic and over-stuffed sister Evie lavishes her ‘food-is-love’ obsession on her beloved niece and nephew coping with their own sense of loss. Meanwhile, Michael and Emily, soon-to-be children of divorce, orchestrate their own plan to keep their family together at all costs. Adler, once again, demonstrates his storytelling mastery by revealing the intricate blending of the past with the present, and how time unravels all things seemingly perfect to be darkly and even comically dysfunctional.
Fun fact: Scorpions glow under UV light, which is probably a byproduct of using their carapace as a sensor to determine what time to go out feeding.
The fourth Scorpion King movie is coming out soon, Scorpion King: The Lost Throne. For those keeping score, Scorpion King 4 is a sequel to a sequel to a prequel (that has a prequel) to a sequel to a remake that is getting remade. Victor Webster returns as the Scorpion King (as he was in Scorpion King 3) No real plot details yet, but usually the Scorpion King loses his kingdom so does a bunch of warrior stuff and gets a kingdom.
It’s a monster-sized edition to the Links post to celebrate Monster Love and to make up for Monster Laziness! So many good posts you won’t have to go anywhere else the rest of the day except all these places below. And also come back here. And share other links in the comments if you want. It’s a free internet!
As usual, we got lots of cool links from out friends and some movie news that didn’t rate its own post, and then science stuff thrown in for good measure because learning is cool. So be super monster cool and read all this stuff before I get mad!
**Top picture is Last Play by Jason Edmiston that appeared in the Village Voice, but I found on tumblr long ago with no proper attribution
**Yes, this link goes to the Daily Dot. But it’s not a terrible article, it’s actually good. I was just as surprised as you! The greatest movie that never was
**Is there a Jodi Arias Lifetime movie in the works? You bet your sweet bippy! If you aren’t Nancy Grace or someone who accidentally watched three seconds of Nancy Grace before the batteries in the remote kicked in and you could change the channel once more, you probably have no idea who Jodi Arias is, so count yourself lucky!
**Speaking of killer women, Women’s Studies is a crazy bad horror film about a killer women’s studies cult. I can’t tell if it is supposed to be a parody or what a MRA guy actually believes. Anyone with NetFlix or Amazon streaming want to check it out?
**Also LOL at this book:
**Go Go Girls vs. The Nazis is an upcoming Russ Meyer tribute film spearheaded by Wayne Clingman. Patrick Beck is slated to direct with a screenplay by Ross Bigley. The listed cast includes Melanie Robel, Elvis Thao, Melantha Blackthorne, and Ted Alderman.
This motion picture will include three critical elements to give a true grindhouse feel:
**The Gremlins remake is lumbering forward, now produced by Seth Grahame-Smith, the guy who wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and the script to Dark Shadows (and rewrites on the Fantastic Four reboot.) Please feed this movie after midnight, but feed it poison!
**Babysitter Massacre sounds like it would be cooler if it was a straight horror movie version of The Babysitters Club instead of a sort of the same.
**These damn Pylopagurus discoidalis hermit crabs just can’t be found alive, except for now when they did. Also they named them The Three Amigos after the film.
That’s it until next time, bur remember, keep safe and keep loved!
